Photos From the Xbox One's Midnight Launch in Palo Alto (Slideshow)

When they shared a block at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Calif., the cavernous Microsoft Store always seemed comically less popular than the tiny Apple Store nearby. These days, Apple has relocated to a larger spot farther away; and this week, Microsoft got mobbed by throngs of gamers at the Xbox One’s midnight launch party.

About 150 console preorderers turned up for the store’s party, which was mirrored at Microsoft’s retail locations in 46 other cities, with the two biggest shindigs held in New York and Los Angeles. Last week, Sony similarly celebrated the launch of its rivaling PlayStation 4, an event that even brought some buyers to smooches.

Alas, no one made out over their Xbox Ones (at least, not at this party), but here’s what we saw:

Earlier, Microsoft announced that it sold more than one million consoles in the Xbox One’s first 24 hours, matching the same claim made by Sony earlier in the week.